Shaft-coupling.



F. E. SAECKER. SHAFT COUPLING, APPLICATION nuzn SEPT. 2, 1913.

Patented Apr. 27,1915.

FRANK E. SAECKER, OF APPLETON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO APPLETQN MACHINECOMPANY, OF APPLETON, WISCONSIN.

SHAFT-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Apr, 27, 1915.

Application filed September 2, 1913. Serial No. 787,561.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. SEAGKER, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Appleton, in the county of Outagamie and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shaft-Couplings,

following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention refers to paper refining engines, one object being toprovide a simple,

economical and effective means for coupling a the shaft of a primemover, of the electric motor type, to the plug-shaft of the refiningengine, whereby a certain amount of play is permitted between theshafts, there being means in connection with the coupling for absorbingshock incidental to vibration of the connected devices.

' Another object of my invention, in addition to the yieldable couplingmeans, is to provide an indirect gear connection between the engineplug-shaft and the-casing of the motor-shaft, whereby said motor andplugshaft are synchronously adjusted to maintain their relativepositions co-incident to adjustment of the engine plug in its shell,

the alined shafts being moved thus independently.

With the above objects in view the invention consists in certainpeculiarities of construction and combination of parts as hereinafterset forth with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequentlyclaimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a paper refiningengine of the Jordan type and an electric motor for driving the same,the shaft of the motor and engine being connected by a yieldablecoupling with certain parts of the device broken away and in section tomore clearly illustrate structuralfeatures; Fig. 2, a detailedcrosssection upon an enlarged scale of the coupling members, the sectionbeing indicated by line 14: 'of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detailed longitudinalsectional view of the coupling members showing the same attached tofragments of their respective shafts, the section being indicated byline 55 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4:, a detailed perspective view of one halfof one of said coupling members, it being understood that two of suchmembers, as shown, are connected together to constitute a singlecoupling member.

and I do hereby declare that the Referring by characters to thedrawings, 1. indicates the tapered shell of a refining engine, the. samebeing supported upon a bed 1 by suitable interposed blocks.

2' and 2 represent brackets extending from the discharge and feed endrespectively of the shell, which brackets support boxes 3, 3, into whichis journaled a plug-shaft +1. The feed. end box 3 is rigidly secured tothe bracket 2, while the discharge end box 3 is slidably mounted uponthe bracket 2 and is provided with annular rings which engage annularrecesses in the plug-shaft whereby said plug-shaft is longitudinallyshifted coincident to a corresponding shift of the box, it beingunderstood that the plug-shaft moves endwise through the feed end box 3.Secured to the shaft 4 is the ordinary plug 5 which is revolubly mountedwithin the shell and adapted to be moved endwise with the shaft, wherebyvariations in the cut is effected. The journal box 3 is provided with adepending ear, which ear is in threaded union with a screw 6, the saidshaft being revoluble in, the ear 7 that constitutes part of the bracket2. This screw is provided at its end with a hand-wheel 7 and also asprocket-wheel 8, which sprocket-wheel is.

connected by a link-belt to a corresponding sprocket-wheelB that ismounted upon one end of a spindle 9. The said spindle is journaled at.its sprocket-carrying end in a hanger 10 that extends from the adjacentend of the bed 1. The opposite end of the spindle 9 has secured theretoa threaded section 9, which section, in turn, is in threaded union withthe boss 11, the same being rigidly connected by a web 11 to thebase-plate 12 of a motor-casing 13, as best'shown in Fig. 1. Thebase-plate of the motor-casing is supported upon longitudinal series ofanti-friction rollers 14, which rollers are mounted in suitable bearingsof troughs 15 that are separated transversely into oil pockets, wherebythe gangs of rollers which support the base are suitably lubricated, thesaid base-plate being also guided by rails 16 .which overlap the upperfaces of the base and are secured to flanges of the bed-plate.

Mounted in suitable journals with which the motor-casing is provided isa motorshaft 17, which shaft is axially alined with coupling member Aand the juxtaposed end of the plug-shaft a corresponding coupling memberB. These coupling members are similar in construction and are eachformed in separable halves 18, 18, which halves are dividedlongitudinally and are clamped to their respective shafts by bolts 19,the said coupling members being held against rotation upon the shaftends by a spline connection. Each half of the coupling member A isprovided with a tongue-and-grooved projecting head 20 in the form of asector approximating one quarter of a circle, the coupling member Bwhich is secured to the plug-shaft being provided with similartongue-and-grooved heads 21, the pairs of the opposing heads beinginterlocked to effect a coupling engagement between the shafts. Thestepped faces of the heads or sectors, constituting thetongue-and-grooves, are, as best shown in Fig. 2, spaced apart for thereception of tapered yieldable wedgeblocks 22, there being two of suchwedgeblocks in connection with each joint, the same being interposedbetween the groove of one sector and the tongue of the opposing sector.These wedge-blocks are preferably composed of rubber or other yieldablematerial and are held in their seats by means of a confining ring 23,which ring is fitted over the circular faces of the heads.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that when the plug-shaft,together with the plug, are adjusted by means of manually rotating thescrew 6, the gear connection between said worm-shaft and the spindle 7will cause movement of the motorshaft in synchrony with movement of saidplug-shaft, due to the threaded union between the spindle section 9' andboss 11 that projects from the base-plate of the motorcasing, wherebysaid motor-casing is shifted back or forth upon its supporting rollers.It is also apparent from the foregoing description with reference to theyieldable coupling connection between the drive and driven shafts thatvibration co-incident to high speed of the motor-shaft will be absorbedas power is transmitted to the driven plug-shaft due to theinterlockedcoupling members with which the ends of the juxtaposed shaftsare provided, there being a coupling member being provided with atongue-and-grooved sector for interlocking engagement with thetongue-and-grooved sectors of the opposite coupling member, andshock-absorbing plugs fitted between the engaging faces of thetongue-and-groove sectors.

2. A coupling connection comprising a pair of alined shafts, a couplingmember secured to each shaft each member being halved, means forclamping the halves together, a tongue-and-grooved sector extending fromeach half for interlocked engagement with the sectors of the oppositemember, the interlocking joints being spaced apart, and shock absorbingplugs fitted within the spaces between said sectors.

3.. A coupling means for alined shafts comprising pairs oflongitudinally halved coupling members, each pair being provided withcompanion male and female tongueand-groove sectors for interlockingengagement with the corresponding tongue-andgrooved sectors of theopposite coupling member, and means-for securing the halves of eachcoupling member together, the said coupling members being halved tointersect their respective female sectors.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand atAppleton in the county of Outagamie and State of Wisconsin in thepresence of two witnesses.

FRANK E. SAECKER.

